Unfair
by ladyvice
Summary: Goku is curious as to whether or not Gato ever gets hungry. But a conversation with him leads Goku to question the meaning of 'friendship' Incomplete. Please Read and Review. (Eventual GatoGoku pairing...maybe.)


Goku swallowed another spring roll and stared over at the table where Sanzo and Hazel were seated. They seemed to be having some kind of conversation in which Sanzo had no interest. It wasn't surprising, seeing as how Sanzo cared little for the company of anyone, let alone some weirdly dressed, foreign guy. It wasn't the conversation, however, that interested him. It was the tall, dark complected bodyguard Hazel always had with him, Gato. It intrigued him how someone as strong as Gato didn't need to eat to keep his strength up. Hakkai had told him it was probably because he was a 'revived person', which was jus the polite way of saying 'zombie'. Anyway, apparently, 'revived people' had different needs than living people.

"I wonder if he gets hungry." He wondered out loud.

"Stupid…" Gojyo said and hit the monkey in the back of the head. "Didn't someone already explain that to you?"

"Yeah but just because he doesn't have to eat to stay alive doesn't mean he doesn't get hungry."

"Someone like Gato probably doesn't suffer from hunger, exhaustion or pain." Hakkai chimed in.

"What I don't get is how a big guy like him can move so damn fast." Gojyo stated, lighting up another cigarette. He placed his lighter back in his pocket and then smiled. "Guy like that probably has a huge pecker, you know?"

"Gojyo…" Hakkai cast him a warning glace and the kappa could assume the rest of the speech. 'Don't go filling Goku's head with words like that. He repeats them without a second thought. If Sanzo finds out you'll get us all killed.' And then he would sip his tea quietly.

"Perverted kappa…" Goku said stuffing his face again. "Your brain is in your pants."

"And your brain is in your stomach!" Gojyo snatched up an item from Goku's plate quickly before the monkey could notice. "Not that it matters because the guy is really just a walking puppet for Hazel. I bet he can't even get it up. Limp as a wet noodle."

Hakkai coughed and sipped his tea. "Hey!" Goku exclaimed, suddenly realizing something was missing from his plate. "Didn't I have another bun?"

The usual fighting between the always hungry Goku and the trouble causing Gojyo quickly ensued. Right on schedule, two gunshots rang out and Sanzo appeared. "Let's go." He said without looking back at Hazel and Gato who were still in the same place they'd been when Goku brought his question up.

The duo followed them all day through the narrow mountain pass. Sanzo kept waving his gun around and whacking Goku and Gojyo with his harisen every time one of them would mention Hazel or Gato. "Don't worry about them." He'd say and then mumble something about 'can't wait until the pass widens and Hakuryu can get us the hell away from them.' But Goku couldn't help himself after the conversation he and Gojyo had earlier.

He wanted to ask Gato if he was ever hungry or tired, if just to prove Gojyo wrong. But he wouldn't dare go near Hazel. It wasn't that he feared for his life. It was pretty obvious that as long as the four of them were around, Hazel and Gato wouldn't have to hunt for Yokai. They would only have to wait for the Yokai to come to them. So as long as no one threatened their current relationship, Goku doubted any of them would be in any serious danger. Still, if he dropped back too far away from the other three, he could be certain that Sanzo would want to know why and probably fire a few rounds in his direction. He would have to wait until they stopped for the night.

Being in the mountains, there weren't many towns. The four of them stopped just after twilight, with the two tag-alongs making camp a little ways behind them. Goku waited until the other three had fallen fast asleep before quietly making his way toward the other camp, hoping that Hazel was already asleep.

He found the campsite similar to their own, a fire burning down to its last embers, the annoyance of a priest already fast asleep…but Gato was sitting a good distance away from the fire, staring blankly into it. 'I wonder what he's thinking.' Goku thought. 'Or if he even thinks at all. What do zombie people think about?' He suddenly shivered. 'If he's dead, then I bet his skin is as cold as ice. Hakkai said he probably doesn't feel pain. I wonder if he'd feel me poking him…' Goku searched the ground for a stick of sufficient length. The last thing he wanted to do was poke cold, dead skin with his bare fingers. He found one and proceeded to poke Gato several times before he turned around to glare at Goku.

Goku suddenly panicked at the seemingly hateful glare Gato was giving him and shrank back into the bushes. "Sorry." He said quietly so as not to wake Hazel. "I thought you wouldn't feel it."

"Just because I'm not like you doesn't mean I can't feel a stick in my back." Gato replied. "It was annoying."

"Sorry." Goku said again. "Hey, can you answer me a question?"

Gato turned back around to look at Hazel who had moved slightly in his sleep. "Can you be quiet?"

"If you're afraid of waking him up, let's go farther away from the fire. Don't worry. Nothing will happen to him."

Gato looked back at Goku, trying to discern from the boy's expression if it was some kind of trick to lure him away from Hazel so that his companions could attack him in his sleep. He seemed sincere, however, and the Yokai traveling with Sanzo didn't seem to be the type to do something so low. Quietly he followed Goku into a small, grassy area about halfway between the two campsites. "What did you want to ask me?"

"It's just that…" Goku scratched his head. "Do you ever get hungry or sleepy? I mean, because everyone around you is eating and sleeping and doing stuff that living people do. It isn't fair that you don't get to enjoy some good food and good dreams because you died once."

The older man wanted to think of Goku's question as foolish but something about it was strange, as if the question held some hidden meaning. What was this Yokai after? "I don't miss it." Gato answered. "Is it fair that living people have to endure bad food and nightmares?"

"No, I guess not." Goku lowered his head in thought. "But if people didn't have bad food…how would we know what good food was?" He smiled up at Gato.

That's what I miss. He thought. Being able to have earnest emotion… The ability to experience fear, joy, hatred, sadness…All the things that this boy probably takes for granted and wishes away. "But then again, without good food, how would we know what's bad? That's really a confusing question." Goku continued and then decided to change the subject. "Do you hate Yokai, too, Mr. Gato?" he asked.

"I don't hate anyone."

"Then why are you helping Hazel kill all the Yokai?"

"I don't have a choice. Hazel won't be able to heal me if he doesn't have souls…"

"If you stop killing Yokai then you won't have to fight." Goku's expression had changed. He seemed to be pleading with Gato to abandon his mission. "If you don't fight then you won't get hurt and Hazel won't have to heal you anymore."

"It isn't quite that simple." Gato looked back over at the pale, orange light of the campfire where Hazel was sleeping. "I have to protect Hazel, even if it is only from himself. Just like you have to protect your friends."

"Me? Protect them?" Goku moved his head to the side in thought. "I never thought of it that way."

"From what I've seen, Sanzo seems to have a strange bond with you, Son Goku. And the red haired half-breed treats you like a brother…the other treats you almost as a son. You should be glad to have friends that you can talk and laugh with."

"Don't you talk and laugh with Hazel?" Goku wondered? He had assumed that every relationship was similar to the ones he had with his three companions. Certainly, they had their differences. Sometimes, there was a lot of name-calling and the stealing of food from each other's plates. There were even threats made to each other's lives. But Goku had known all along that he could count on the other three to always be there to laugh with later on. He couldn't imagine life without them. Could it be that Gato and Hazel weren't really friends? Or was it that his concept of friendship was completely wrong?

"I listen." Gato replied. Goku frowned at the odd response and watched as the man stepped in great strides back toward the camp where Hazel slept. He had an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach, the same feeling he had when Gojyo got bigger portions than he did. Something just didn't seem right…fair. That was the word. It wasn't fair that Gato was having such a bad second chance at life. Goku couldn't help but wonder. Was there anything he could do to make it better?


End file.
